I opened up the plug today after a successful weekend programming etc. The unit will do what I want and I am now looking at the next step to create a product based on this hardware.

The board says Power Plug v1.3. It doesn't look like the other internal shots I've seen. On the side with the power connector, there is a battery, sdio card slot, usb cionnector and ethernet, minu usb . More importantly, there are two connectors. the first has 4 pins and is labeled UART J6 and the other has 6 pins and labeled j7.

What are these and will these be available on the non devkit boards. Would these be used to connect to the boards to flash them?

There is also a 2 pin connector called j2 and a JTAG. Also it looks like the silkscreen is set up for either a conventional serial port or more likely a VGA connector. The board is all one without the separate daughter board.

I also have the same plug as shown in the pictures (US version). It says Power Plug REV1.3 As shown in the pictures, it has an 8-pin JTAG J4 connector along one side (mine has an 8-pin header solder to the board), a 6-pin header listed as J6, a 4-pin header listed as UART J7, and a place for an eSATA connector between the USB port and the ethernet port labeled J10 that has 7 connections (see http://portal.fciconnect.com/Comergent//fci/drawing/10067172.pdf). I'd guess the UART and JTAG are the same as the ports available through the mini USB port. There is also J11, a place for a 5-pin header (another USB?) and J2 for a 2-pin header and also says 2.5v (mine doesn't have the header soldered in). What are the J2, J6, and J11 connectors for?

Unfortunately, the documentation I received is not up to date and does not reflect the new single-board plug (V1.3). If J10 is for an e-SATA port, I don't think it's wired all the way back to the processor. The attached pic shows the traces from J10 lead to unpopulated components (C164, C188-C190)

Also, I should point out there's an unpopulated LED (D3) that you can see in the other pictures I posted.

I think I have the EU version. It comes in a very sweet white box, and includes an ethernet cable, a two pin plug with figure of eight connector for the Sheeva, a euro to UK (actually I'm in Ireland) adapter and a male to male, USB A to mini usb cable. Also included was a figure of eight to UK plug lead. Nice,

The box even has little magnets for it to close with a snap. I've never come across a dev kit so well put together. It also had a CD that I haven't looked at yet. I could sell it to my customers as it is. I just need to add a custom sticker.

I wrote to Global Scale and asked them about the connectors and other stuff.

Henry Chiu, VP Sales and Marketing, was very helpful. These are the pin outs. Basically both uarts but one has i2c also.

1. J6

Pin1- GND (with white dot)

Pin2- UA0_RXD

Pin3- UA0_TXD

Pin4- RTS (SDA for I2C)

Pin5- CTS (SCK for I2C )

Pin6- +3.3V

2. J7

Pin1- GND (with white dot)

Pin2- UA0_RXD

Pin3- UA0_TXD

Pin5- +3.3V

It would be interesting to see if these are extra uarts or are they connected with the USB. I think that the plan would be for these to be used in OEM versions that don't have USB slave connections in order for the boot params to be changed for kernel reloads etc

I presume the two pin connector is for external power. 2.5 volt sees like an odd voltage. Any ideas why? and not 3.3 or 5? The the output power from the supplied transformer has not changed.I'd say j11 is for bench testing the USB without having to have the connector on. Although that does kill my argument for J7 being used for this.

Since you have a contact with Henry Chiu, VP Sales and Marketing, can you ask him about the specifics of J2, J4, J6, J7, J10, and J11? It would be good to know if these are functional and if they overlap functionally with any other ports (i.e., the mini-USB).

Is there a quick how to open the case? I may be able to force open it, but open the little plastic locks break if you don't try the proper way.

As for 2.5v, the general trend is towards lower voltage for all electronics; one of the impediments has been the large number/variety of external devices which uses the higher voltages. As mobile devices become wide spread, I predict all interfaces will move towards sub 2v -- lower power, less heat, long battery life. In one of the boards I was involved in there were 6 internal tiny power converters (switching type to be efficient) to supply all the interfaces, and that board was not much bigger than the Plug.

The case is easy to open. As stated, just remove the rubber feet, and unscrew the screws with a Philips head about 3 turns. They don't come out. So do each one in sequence one turn at a time until the halves come apart. The screws have little locking grommets that keep them in their half. Remember when putting them back to rotate back a turn until they click into the existing thread and then tighten away.

Has anyone tried to run the board on 5 volt direct. I'd be interested to know if the heat is from the transformer or is it from the board

Has anyone tried to run the board on 5 volt direct. I'd be interested to know if the heat is from the transformer or is it from the board

I plan on running my plug from an external 5v source (via solar-powered 12 battery), but I haven't yet found a proper plug for the power cable. You could open your plug and run it with the halves apart to do your test.